Frugal GAB

In my quest to replace the soon to be obsolete Microsoft Money software I have been researching the various financial software programs available.  Because I am used to a desktop software like Money, I instinctively looked for another program to buy and download to my PC.  Well you know what, the choices are rather limited! Quicken anyone?

More and more web-based applications are being developed, and all have their individual strengths and weaknesses.  I found a great list of options in an article titled Good-Bye, Microsoft Money… over on Get Rich Slowly. Thanks to a lot of input form readers I was able to get a little more insight into each one.

My dilemma in making a choice (and if you know me I really weigh my options heavily before deciding anything) is how to incorporate tracking personal finances and business finances.  It seemed to me that no one program is going to do it all in the way I would like.

Here are functions that would be great to have:

–ability to connect with banking, credit card, and investment sites to download my transactions

–ability to also manually enter or edit transactions

–integration with my banks bill pay features

–budgeting and  tracking progress

–the ability to split a transaction into more than one category

I am sure there are more little things, but these are the big ones.

As with anything, making a change often does not come easily.

Since I began searching for something new I have tried the following web-based programs: Mint, Thrive, QuickenOnline, and YodleeMoney Center. Then I also downloaded trial versions of two desktop applications: MoneyDance and You Need a Budget (YNAB).

After playing around with each of them for a while I found each one had their quirks that were deal-breakers for me. The two big ones are not being able to manually enter transactions or to split a transaction into more than one category. So I discontinued most of the online services.  I got in on a beta testing group from Quicken, so I will keep playing with that in order to give them accurate feedback and suggestions for improvement.

I have to say I really liked YNAB the best and will continue using it. Their budgeting feature has enabled me to stop running both my excel spreadsheets and my financial software, often doubling my work. This will surely streamline things for me.  If you are wanting to get a handle on your finances, being able to plan where your money is going to go, then YNAB is a great tool. They have a 7 day free trial, so check it out. In addition their site has tutorials on their budgeting philosophy and tips on how to best utilize the program, along with a great user forum.  Soon they are releasing YNAB 3 which will be Mac compatible.

I hope you take a few minutes to look at the various sites I listed and see if one will work for you. Most of them have the ability to download information from your bank, track credit cards and investments and setup bill pay reminders and some budgeting and savings goals.  As each of us has different requirements, what program works for one may not work for the next person.   If you have experience with any of the above, please post your likes or dislikes in the comments.

Also…for small business owners, WAHM, eBay sellers and the like, check out this great site for tracking business income and expenses Outright (now eBay compatible!)

In our quest to reduce our monthly expenses this year we made several changes to the various services we subscribe to.  Sounds pretty simple, huh?

First to go would be DIRECTV; even though we were very pleased with their service it was just too much for our budget this time around.  To replace that we took advantage of a great Basic cable deal from Metrocast: Free basic cable for 1 year with High Speed Internet.

Next we needed to then drop our DSL that had been with Verizon, but at that moment in time had just switched over to FairPoint Communications. The initial transition was not great and service was spotty, so the final decision to drop their DSL service in favor of the Cable Internet deal was sealed.

The third change would be the phone service. We are not big talkers, with either local or long distance, so no huge “everything” plan would be beneficial financially. After much consideration we chose Vonage and their lowest $17.99/mo plan with plenty of minutes for our needs. You can now port your land line number to Vonage,  and that was a nice perk  so Mr B&W would not have to change his business number.

So far so good, right?

WRONG!  First our number porting date came, and all seemed fine, we could stop using our Vonage temporary number and go back to our old number that everyone knew. Well suddenly we had people saying I called you and could not get through, it rang and rang and the answering machine never picked up.    We were wondering if perhaps this change to Vonage was a bad idea, and called Vonage about the problem, but all seemed okay on their end. Then some more info came to light.  We kept track of who could not get through and when.  Also we plugged a corded phone into the old land line jack to see if it would ring, and did! Sometimes. It turned out that the only people who could not get though on Vonage (but could get through on the land line) were also local FairPoint customers.  So with mystery solved we contacted FairPoint.  They said the number porting went through and maybe it would  just take a few extra days.

A few days came and went and the same problem occurred. Then we received a bill from FairPoint with new charges past the disconnect date, along with charges for the disconnected DSL service. Another phone call was in order. After a 45 minute wait on hold  I was told the problem was sent to repair (or tech or whatever they call the service department), and also next month the bill would be zeroed out from the disconnect date, so do not pay anything (as if I was actually going to!).

Now it all gets a little fuzzier, but still problems with calls coming in persisted and then the next bill is still wrong. To give them credit they did have the DSL charges fixed, but still showed both past due and new charges on the phone service we no longer have.  So that is two months running. Are you still with me here?

If you know of the FairPoint switchover you would know that many, many customers had issues with billing and service during this time. So I tried very hard to be patient. I trusted it was fixed and patiently waited for the next bill to arrive and  miraculously say Total Due $0.00!  I felt worse for the businesses who needed phone service set up and could not get it done for weeks going on months, and were probably losing customers. My little bill error seemed insignificant in comparison.  The local newspaper reported that billing errors were common, people had trouble with automatic payments and other various issues. I was starting to wonder how long my bill would sit unfixed, being past due according to them, and if it would get reported to a credit agency.

So the next bill comes and I open it with nervous energy, look and it has yet another month of charges! Now I am mad all over again.  Yes, another phone call, another wait, and another promise it will be fixed next time. UGH! At least the promise of fixing the local call situation was finally resolved.  Somehow it took just the right person to believe me that the only calls I am having trouble with are those from other FairPoint customers.

Unfortunately the next month the billing was still wrong! I think we were up to owing about $133 for service we do not have. What are we up to 4 months now? Even I have lost track. Anyway on my next phone call (which pleasantly surprised me by only having a 4 minute wait time) the customer service rep assured me that all was fixed and the appropriate credits would be issued.   I thanked him with a little trepidation.

Fast forward to today, August 15th, 5 months (minus 2 days) from the original disconnect date.  Our trusty mail carrier delivered our  FairPoint bill today, and Mr. B&W stole all my fun by opening it himself. Drum Roll please…

Total Due $69.14

Ha Ha on me! Yes we got credit for some months, not all, and we are still being billed for Long Distance.

UGH I am dreading Monday morning where I will have to call up my friends at FairPoint yet again.

Wish me luck, will ya?

Oh yes, sorry with all the ranting and raving I forgot to mention we did cut our monthly budget by over $70 with the changes we made.  Not too shabby!

Disclaimer: All links are provided for your convenience, to reference the companies or articles mentioned herein. I derive no benefit or compensation for mentioning them.

On one of my shopping trips this week at Shaw’s I was able to get all of this for just $1.20 OOP (out of pocket). Shelf price $62.44!

With some great Catalina deals going on from General Mills and Unilever I was really able to maximize my $60/week grocery budget. The deal was if you bought $30 in product you would get back $15 in Catalinas (coupons) off your next order. If you repeat your trips, and pay with those coupons earned, you minimize your OOP expenses.

Here are a few photos of this week’s haul:

That is the overview of most of what I got…minus the perishables and some peanut butter, rice and more cereal. Here are a few close-ups:

In addition to what is pictured I also got:
6 Breyer’s Ice Cream
3 Green Giant frozen veggies
Fiber One yogurt 4 pack
Yo Plus Yogurt 4 pack
3 ½ lb boneless Pork Loin
3 lbs ground beef
1 ½ lbs Steak Tips
2 Ball park beef franks
2 ½ lbs red grapes
3 kiwi
2 bananas
Sargento Shredded cheese
2 12-packs Coke
2 Pillsbury Simply Chocolate Chip cookies
3 Betty Crocker fruity snacks
2 Skippy PB
2 Rice sides
3 Honey Nut Cheerios
1 Bisquick
1 Mac & cheese
Total OOP $67.53, Shelf Price $383.50
Also, I still have $15 OYNO(off your next order) Catalinas to spend for next time!!
As you can see, with stocking up on these non-perishable items I will not have to buy them in the future at full price. With a little info on matching up your coupons to the right sales and repeating any really good deals is the best way to make the most of an awesome deal at your store.

Thanks to The Grocery Game who has awesome lists to match up your coupons to the best sales, and the ladies at A Full Cup who provide info on what is working or not on these Catalina promos, I can really make the most of my budget.

Mr B&W would have loved it if I did a few more trips this week, but I was shopped out. He was kind enough to do the final trip last night where he was able to get a $19 pork roast for 79¢ OOP!! I bet he understood how cool it feels to get so much for so little!

Starting today is a great Kraft deal called the SuperValu Promotion*, spend $25 gt a $5 OYNO coupon, plus a $20 mail in rebate!

*the promo is no longer active, so I have revised that  link to go to the regular Kraft Promo page instead

Taking the time to sit down and make a weekly (or monthly) menu plan can really help out your budget (and your sanity!). When you have a plan you can be sure you have the ingredients on hand, take things out to defrost on time, and avoid the money sucking lure of take out!
You can do it simply, or get really detailed…whatever works for you!

Here a a few basic steps to get you started:

• Think about what your family favorites are, what do you make often? If you are not sure then record a couple weeks of dinners on your calendar and see if you have a pattern. Use that as your base.

• Check your calendar to see if  you will be home, or if anyone has activities to keep you away at dinner time. That way you can plan a quick meal, or factor in a take out meal if it works better with your schedule . We have “Diner’s choice” on the nights my DH is not home so the boys choose their faves that night.

• Review your grocery store fliers at Sunday Saver or get your shopping lists from The Grocery Game, Coupon Mom, My Grocery Deals, or similar sites.  Plan some meals around what is on sale.

• Pull out your favorite recipes, or use a site where you can save them in a recipe box for quick reference.  Try All Recipes,  Kraft Foods, or just use the tags on Delicious to keep track of those you find on the web.  If you need more inspiration try Woman’s Day’s Month of Menus for a printable menu calendar and also a shopping list!

• Check your pantry, refrigerator and freezer to see what you have on hand before you make your shopping list so you do not waste money buying duplicates.

• Record your menu plan on your calendar, in your planner, or on Google Calendar (which is great because you can link to recipes in your entry!

Now if you are a blogger, be sure to join up with I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday and post your weekly menu!

Check out my weekly plan over at our sister site Simple GAB!